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Some claim coercion over "Save the Rose" pins
Prof. Shula Reinharz (SOC) said she did not coerce students to remove their "Save the Rose" pins.
by Alana Abramson
Staff writer
News | 11/3/09
Posted online at 2:49 AM EST on 11/3/09
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Emily Leifer '11, the undergraduate departmental representative for the Fine Arts department, said in an interview with the Justice that she and the other UDRs, Beccah Ulm '11, Anne Carver '10, Amy Tsao '10 and Catherine McConnell '10, convened prior to the Rose opening. Ulm and Leifer handed out the buttons at the event.
Leifer said the UDRs initially wanted to have a petition table at the opening but decided to provide "Save the Rose" pins because the petition would likely incite controversy with the administration.
Leifer said she and Ulm were handing out buttons when Reinharz came to the front of the museum with someone else. According to Leifer, Reinharz tried to steer people away from her and Ulm and told them that they were being disruptive.
"[Reinharz] said the Rose is saved," Leifer recalled. She added that Reinharz didn't give an answer about whether the works are for sale but asked something like, "Do you want this University to fail?"
Prof. Mark Auslander (ANTH) was also wearing a "Save the Rose" button and said that the wife of a trustee member asked him to remove it. He declined to provide any names but said she is good friends with Reinharz.
Ulm confirmed Leifer's account and said that Reinharz was "very confrontational with us."
"She came over, and I didn't know who she was at first, and [she] just kind of touched the box and touched my arm and said, 'Please don't hand those out. They're misleading and detrimental to this event,'" said Ulm.
Reinharz said in an interview with the Justice, however, that she asked approximately 10 to 15 students to remove their pins, and five complied. She said she did not think she was being coercive.
"If I were being coercive, I probably would have had a better success rate," she said.
Rachel Comstock '10, who works as a gallery guide at the museum, said that she and Reinharz were greeting guests when Reinharz asked her for her pin.
Viewing Comments 1 - 4 of 4
Daniel Ortner
posted 11/03/09 @ 12:20 PM EST
Shulamit Reinharz was way out of line in going around in her semi-official capacity and asking students to remove buttons. It is a shame to see administrators continuing their shameful disdain for student speech. (Continued…)
Xy Gote
posted 11/03/09 @ 1:48 PM EST
Why didn't the "first lady" simply have her own pin campaign:
"My husband ruined this school and tried to sell this art to bail him out -- oh, and don't forget to give to the annual fund"
MVM
posted 11/03/09 @ 8:56 PM EST
Whatever her feeling are about the bottons, she handled the situation unprofessionally. I cannot take credit but a professor put it well today when she said "it is a matter of free speech and if take away that right, what type of school have we become. (Continued…)
Louis
posted 11/06/09 @ 1:43 PM EST
It's extraordinarily disturbing to me that Shula Reinharz, as a sociologist and member of the Women's and Gender Studies faculty, seems to have displayed no understanding whatsoever of the issues of rank, power dynamics, or privilege in her interactions with the students at this event. (Continued…)
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